Jeffrey Epstein's fortune and connections helped him get an extraordinarily light sentence for preying on young girls. And now less-fortunate predators are arguing they should get the same. Equal justice, right?

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Conchita Sarnoff, who's been on the Epstein beat for The Daily Beast, notes a perverse twist in subsequent cases: Epstein's easy bout with the justice system setting precedent.

Despite being believed by the FBI to have molested 40 girls, Epstein's unprecedented deal included pleading guilty to only two minor counts and a "work release" sentencing in which he got to leave his private cell in a county jail for the entire day.

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Now, the court-appointed attorney for a Haitian man who is pleading guilty on three counts of child trafficking is citing the Epstein case to argue that his client should be treated equally.

As De Fabio argues it, this is a case about selective prosecution, or, in other words, equal justice under the law. In a motion to dismiss the indictment, De Fabio argues that Epstein's Non Prosecution Agreement allowed him to avoid all federal charges of child trafficking and simply serve a mild sentence by pleading guilty to the lesser charges of solicitation of prostitution with a minor, and that his client-Saintil-should be offered a similar deal. Other similar motions are said to be in the works on behalf of other defendants.

He has a point. Except for the fact that equality under the law wasn't supposed to mean that all criminals get as little punishment as the ones who can afford "better."